The lost art of great movie intros

One thing I really enjoyed in old-school movies that seems to have fallen out of favour, is the great movie intro. I think the original Superman is a great example - even before the first shot of the actual film, I've been transported to a certain space, and I'm already onboard.




Another quite different one I've always liked is the intro to Crocodile Dundee - the helicopter flight and the score, and I already have a feeling for where I'm going.



I've often thought that more games could employ the art. Any other examples of memorable intros to films or games?

I don't remember movies' intros much.

But you asked games intros that show you where you're going? Sure:



For those who didn't play the game, yes this is the game intro. This is not a trailer.

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EDIT:
I'm an idiot who's memory is slipping. Original Ghost in the Shell opening (can't find the 2008 version that polished animation a bit):




EDIT2:
Remembered another. Irish gem of a movie with a pitch perfect opening that shows you exactly what to expect:




EDIT3:
OMG I'm really getting so old and sclerosis is ongoing. Took me 10 more minutes to remember the brazillian masterpiece opening City of God (Cidade de Deus, sorry, no subs in this one, rent the movie):

The Ghost in the Shell opening is the kind of thing I had in mind, and a really good one.

The Guard is an entertaining movie, with a memorable opening in its way, but not not quite the same sort of thing I had in mind, if you see what i mean.

joxer said:

For those who didn't play the game, yes this is the game intro. This is not a trailer.

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Though it was added after the initial release for what used to be CDPR's customary enhanced edition. The intro they added for the enhanced edition of the second game was even better.

Lots of the Bond opening sequences were/are amazing and very limited use of green screen, if any (except when Roger Moore was Bond). Opening for Casino Royale amazing amazing parkour sequence, for example.

I think you're talking about the title scene. One of the greatest intros in movie history was Indiana Jones.

Yes, "title scene" might be a better way of putting it.

I'm not a big Bond fan, but there's probably no better example of what I'm talking about. Even if I don't enjoy the film, the intro buys my interest, at least for a while.

For me the opening scene of Once Upon a Time in the West stands out. It sets the scene, creates tension and you just feel something is going to happen that is not going to end well for some.
This scene shows why Sergio Leone was such a good director (at least I think he is), with his special way (for that time) in doing close ups of faces.

Myrthos said:

For me the opening scene of Once Upon a Time in the West stands out. It sets the scene, creates tension and you just feel something is going to happen. You know they they are waiting for someone on a train, well before the train arrives.
This scene shows why Sergio Leone was such a good director (at least I think he is ).

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Yes, absolute masterpiece, IMO. A good example of a blurred line between title sequence and opening scene.

Worth a link, I think.




If we look more at intro scenes, I've always thought the opening of Blue Velvet was brilliant.

The Good, the bad and the ugly. Every time is see the start it is still WTF!

John Carpenter's "The Thing":


a pibbur who has (too) many things but not a Thing.

PS. The Norwegian spoken in the opening scene isn't too bad, even if the actor is n ot Norwegian. DS.

All Indy Jones movies.

In video games, Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis kinda mimics that kind of intro.
It creates a great tension and emotional outline.

It's the lost art aspect of this thread I find quite confusing, as I thought a lot of films do this kind of thing even today.

Very, very old films didn't do anything fancy at all, just some title cards then the film started:



And because all of the credits were at the start all you had at the end of the film was a The End card. Casablanca was really pushing the boat out by having an actual picture behind the opening credits.

It wasn't really until the 1950s when the opening credits started to get more interesting:



combining both iconic music and imagery as a means to be as much a part of the film experience as the rest of the film.

And it was in the 1960s that it took on its modern form which is what I think you're talking about:

[many already posted, such as the Bond Gun Barrel sequence & prior intro and of course The Good the Bad and the Ugly etc.]

In the 1970s it was Star Wars which raised the bar once again with it's famous story crawl quickly followed by the ominous spaceship drifting into the blackness of space.

But then this could be a John Williams appreciation thread, because no composer in the history of cinema could write catchy and iconic openers like him, I believe quite a few have already been mentioned! But here's another anyway:

I'm totally SHOCKED that no-one mentioned the opening scene for The Sound of Music!! While slightly different, I always loved the introductions to the Pink Panther movies!!

Corwin said:

While slightly different, I always loved the introductions to the Pink Panther movies!!

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I remember that. I really need to get those movies on DVD again.

The game "Evil Genius" kind of mimics that, and the intros of the James Bond movies, the earlier ones.
Besides, you should really listen to the intro song of Evil Genius. It imho catches that feel of the earlier Bond movies almost perfectly (as imho does the intro song of The Life Of Brian by Monty Python)

Star Wars fans often love the "20th Century Fox" fanfare in the opening of the first Star Wars movie, and regard it as an essential part of the movie's soundtrack.

I had to scroll all the way down and no Contact intro? Tsk.

Contact - Opening Scene (HD)


And for the sake of completeness, Corvin's pick (I hope it's the one you meant, haven't watched the movie myself yet. Shame on me):

"The Sound of Music" - THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)

Contact is a good one.

I consider the intro to The Sound of Music to be an extreme content warning for sensitive viewers.

Ripper said:

I consider the intro to The Sound of Music to be an extreme content warning for sensitive viewers.

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Philistine.

Interestingly I haven't heard of that movie. Only Wikipedia helped me.
Apparingly that movie (and the musical) had much more success in the U.S. than in Germany, as it appears to me.
Okay, I remember that "Die Trapp Familie" is kind of known here, but seemingly only with older generations (read : older than me).
German Wikipedia tells me that the first German-language show was in 1982. I'm quite surprised that Germany is totally absent in the English-language Wikipedia page.

I've never actually sat through the whole thing, but I always found it a weird film with an odd tone - Mary Poppins Meets the Nazis.

Here's a couple more, featuring music from one of my favourite movie composers, James Horner.

Krull



The Wrath of Khan